At the end of the play Malcolm refers to Lady Macbeth as ‘Macbeth’s fiend-like queen.’ How fair of a description do you consider this to be?
The play is based around Macbeth and his transformation from being a ‘hero’ to a ‘tyrant’ all because of his ambition. But it is not only Macbeth’s ambition that transformed him for his wife, Lady Macbeth, also encouraged him into doing what was though of as sacrilegious, to kill a king. Although Shakespeare called the play ‘Macbeth’ Lady Macbeth played just as big a part as her husband. If it were not for her determination and cunning then Macbeth would have never succeeded in obtaining the throne.
In the days that Shakespeare wrote this play many people actually believed in the supernatural and witches. Seeing so many paranormal beings in a play (e.g. witches and ghosts) would most likely horrify them. The audience do not expect to see a delicate woman such as Lady Macbeth acting like a witch. In Act One Scene Five she speaks in the way of the witches, in riddles and rhymes. She asks the spirits to take away her femininity and to fill her with cruelty and evil so she will not feel remorse for what is about to be done. She wants the king, Duncan, dead but not by her own hands. Instead she persuades Macbeth to do the deed and, though he hesitates and has second thoughts, he finally does what his wife desires. It is obvious that at the start of the play Lady Macbeth is the stronger character.
